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Whiskey Wednesday’s Day-late Friday Recruiting Hangover

In which we make up for lost time by drowning you in thick, syrupy content.

By Whiskey Wednesday
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COLLEGE FOOTBALL: OCT 29 Ole Miss at Texas A&M Photo by Ken Murray/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

Hi there Red Cup readers; I owe you an apology. Life has been a little hectic (in a good way!) at the Wednesday household, and I’ve dropped the ball the last couple of weeks with regards to recruiting coverage. BUT, I have been making notes and keeping track of things, so this week, we’re going to have a longer recruiting omnibus, if you will. Let’s hop right in:

A couple of weeks ago, we talked about New Caney, TX running back Kedrick Reescano’s surprise official visit to Ole Miss for the Auburn game. At the time, Reescano was committed to Michigan State, but as I pointed out, Michigan is far away from Texas, and Michigan State is also… not good at football anymore. Reescano followed up his October 15 visit to Oxford by decommitting from MSU on October 27, and since then, Ole Miss appears to have climbed into the driver’s seat for Reescano’s services. Kedrick is a four-star back, rated the #184 player overall and the #9 running back in the country, according to the On3 consensus. Recruiting is always weird and wild, but at present, Ole Miss appears to be the landslide favorite to land Reescano’s signature.

Lawson Luckie, the #189 player and #10 tight end in the country, was another surprise visitor for the Auburn game, arriving as if he’d been smuggled in someone’s trunk. Seriously, it seems as though Luckie and Ole Miss were both making an effort to keep the visit quiet. Why? Luckie is a UGA commit, a Georgia native, and Bulldog legacy; seemingly one of the least likely flip candidates imaginable. But, as you are likely aware, Georgia recruits a lot of good players. Their 2023 class already features Pearce Spurlin, the #100 overall player and #3 tight end, and UGA also appears to be bearing down on Duce Robinson, the #25 player and #1 TE in the class. Do you really want to be the third-best tight end to sign with your school in a given year? I don’t think Lawson Luckie does. Luckie would have lots of other suitors should he bounce from UGA, but Lane Kiffin got an early chance to make his pitch during the Auburn weekend.

Arlington, Texas safety prospect Jamel Johnson visited Ole Miss for the Kentucky game back on October 1st; the four-star prospect, rated the #294 player in the country and the #28 safety, was then committed to Texas. So for those of you who know how context clues work, it will come as no surprise when I tell you that Johnson is no longer committed to Texas. The 6’1, 175-pound safety decommitted from the Longhorns on November 7, and the On3 Recruiting Prediction Machine thingy immediately swung decisively in favor of Ole Miss. 247Sports recruiting director Steve Wiltfong and On3 analyst Zach Berry immediately cast picks for Johnson to end up at Ole Miss. It is worth noting that Johnson is visiting Auburn this weekend, so we’ll see what comes of that visit, if anything.

I don’t typically dwell on guys who commit to schools not named Ole Miss, but it’s worth a quick side note that DJ Chester, a four star guard/center prospect from Conyers, Georgia, committed to LSU over Ole Miss, Auburn, and a couple of other schools. This story is only really noteworthy because the Rebs’ offensive line class right now is a little thin, and so are the remaining prospects. Brycen Sanders remains the Rebels’ only high school OL commit (though he’s a damn good one), with JUCO offensive tackle Izavion Miller also in the fold.

Ok, so Ole Miss has a home football game coming up this weekend, in case you weren’t aware. In fact, it’s a pretty big one! Football prospects often like to attend these games, and the match between Ole Miss and Alabama is no different.

Several Ole Miss commits will be at the game, including:

Other major 2023 prospects at the game include:

Among the prospects not committed to Ole Miss, Isaac Smith and Penn State commit Dakaari Nelson stand out the most; either of the two four-stars, along with Jamel Johnson, would likely round out what is shaping up to be a stacked defensive back class. Christopher Johnson is another four-star prospect, one of three running backs Ole Miss is recruiting, alongside Kedrick Reescano and Dante Dowdell. Gabriel Moore is also an interesting one to keep an eye on. A super-productive defensive end from Louisville, MS, Moore has few solid P5 offers, but Mississippi seems to crank out a couple of unheralded defensive linemen in every cycle who end up being SEC-caliber guys, and Moore seems to fit that bill.

If you’re like me, you might wonder why Lane Kiffin and co. are bringing in relatively few 2023 prospects for a #9 vs. #11 matchup against Alabama. Well, it appears that a much more impressive list of 2024 and 2025 players is headed to town, which likely says a lot about how close Ole Miss is to closing out its 2023 class.

The headliners of that 2024 visit list include:

My final note is more of a curiosity, but I’m including it anyway because I love when this shit happens. Ole Miss just extended an offer to 2023 Nolensville, TN edge rusher Taylor Wein, a 6’5, 245lb defender who is currently unrated by any recruiting service. Prior to this week, Wein’s offers included Charlotte, Georgia Southern, Kent State, Akron, Ball State, and Buffalo. But lest you think Ole Miss is taking an enormous leap of faith in offering Wein, the Rebels’ offer came in just behind that of Oklahoma and Southern Cal, and just ahead of a bid from Virginia Tech. I have no idea what Wein’s level of interest in Ole Miss might be, if any. I just love it when a player’s stock goes absolutely through the roof at the end of their senior year. Maybe this guy is starting for Alabama or Georgia by 2024! Maybe we’ll never hear from him again! No one has any idea, and that’s why recruiting is so ridiculous and addictive to keep up with.

I hope I’ve laid down enough recruiting tiddlybits to tide y’all over for another week. Until next time, Rebel fans.

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